


Three Harpies

by ericsonclan



Series: Fantasy Hijinks AU [10]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Harpies, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: (by Laura)
Relationships: Minerva & Sophie & Tenn (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: Fantasy Hijinks AU [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797862
Kudos: 4





	Three Harpies

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

They headed out from Geldenburg the following day, a couple more travelers having joined their motley crew. The high elf Aasim had stated that he had no interest in whatever they were up to, but his quest for the proper manuscript continued and it was better to travel in groups for safety’s sake than to go it alone. Never mind that the sweet, kind lady dwarf Ruby had also said she would tag along with them at least as far as her home city of Mason. That turned out to be a prime location for him to search for the manuscript, so it was just coincidence that they would continue travelling together even after separating from the group.

Clementine and A.J. had asked to join in as well. They couldn’t stay in Geldenburg any longer and risk another arrest, and the two of them had taken a shine to the rest of the group despite getting off to a rocky start. Louis had already forgiven them, and Violet had found Clem to be trustworthy, so the halfling and the child were added to the party, bringing the total number up to thirteen. With all of them marching down the street together they were no longer merely a band of travelers: they were a caravan.

As they made their way out of Geldenberg, their positions in the group were slightly altered. Marlon was on top of Rosie now, a good deal of their packs piled on top of Rosie’s back. Omar sat on top of the pile of packs making sure nothing fell off. Clementine was afraid of wargs due to a bad experience in her past, so Louis and Violet had offered to walk alongside her, keeping her in the middle as the three walked together down the road. Mitch had volunteered to give A.J. a piggyback ride so he wouldn’t get worn out trying to keep up. Prisha, Ruby and Brody walked together, learning about each others’ cultural practices and traditions, while Aasim walked a short distance behind him, trying to stay ahead of Willy who quite honestly rather freaked him out. 

They’d decided that since Ruby was headed toward Mason they would also go in that general direction, looking for quests and adventure along the way. To that end, they’d decided to take a route that Prisha suggested through some neighboring woods. It would be faster and also increase the likelihood of running into something interesting. It was a several hours’ walk before they reached the mountain pass that cut though the Ghilwig range. They planned to cross through and set up camp on the other side before it grew dark. As they entered the pass, they realized that they were not alone. They kept their distance as they examined the group ahead of them. A group of traders was using the pass as well. It was a group of a little over a dozen men guiding their horses as they pulled along an iron cage on wheels. Their cargo lay inside: a young boy.

Prisha wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight. “Slave traders,” she spat. “I can’t believe that practice is still allowed in any of the realms,”

The halflings gazed at the cage in curiosity except for Clementine who had looked away, eyes on the ground.

“How can they do that?” Louis whispered in shock.

“Yeah,” Violet’s hands balled up in anger. “He’s a being just like the rest of us,”

“Not quite,” Aasim responded, coming up behind them. He flinched at their glares. “I don’t mean it like that, as if I’d condone something so heinous. I’m saying the traders must have found a way to classify him as a thing rather than a being, likely an exotic creature or monster of some kind. Look at him closer,” he indicated toward the boys’ feet, which ended in claws rather than toes. “His arms are winged too. I’d say he was a harpy, but there aren’t any males of that species, only females,”

“We have to get him out,” They all turned in surprise at Clementine’s words. She didn’t meet their gaze, but there was a fire to her tone. “Tonight.”

It didn’t take much to convince the others to join in their plan. They continued to tail the group of slavers, making sure not to get too close and draw their attention. Even as the night grew dim and the distance between the groups widened, Prisha and Aasim’s excellent hearing kept them sure in their course. Darkness had fallen long ago by the time the men settled down for the night, stopping in a clearing to make camp. The little winged boy cowered in the corner of his cage, too scared to even touch the scrap of bread that’d been thrown his way.

Clementine motioned for the others to gather around her. She spoke in a hushed tone, keeping her eyes out for any dangers. “Our best tactic would be a guerilla approach: hit them fast, bust open the cage and run off into the woods before they can catch us. Now is anyone good at lockpicking?”

“I have some experience,” Prisha volunteered. “I won’t know how long it’ll take until I see the lock though,”

“If that doesn’t work, I could bend the bars,” Marlon offered. “It’ll take a few minutes, but the kid’s so skinny I bet I won’t have to move them much to get him out,”

“We’ll do both,” Clementine decided. “If one option doesn’t work, hopefully the other will. We should split up as well. One group will circle around to the other side of the traders’ camp. We’ll wait ten minutes, then the first group will run out. That will be the signal for the other group to attack as well,”

“Sorry to interrupt, but…” Ruby paused. “Wouldn’t it be simpler to sneak in once they’ve all fallen asleep?”

“See that man over there?” Clementine asked, nodding toward one of the traders who stood near the cage. “He’s keeping watch. We won’t have an opportunity to get in unnoticed. Better to attack now when they’re scattered than for them to wake and fight back with their weapons at their sides. Is everyone in agreement?”

They were all willing to follow her lead. The second group of Prisha, Mitch, Ruby, Violet, Omar, Willy and Rosie took off to circle round the camp while Clementine, Louis, A.J., Marlon, Brody and Aasim waited in the shadows. After ten minutes, Clementine gave the signal and they burst into the slavers’ camp with mighty war cries. From the other end of the clearing, Rosie burst out, Willy holding on to the hair on her head while Omar rode on her back. Soon everyone was in the center of the camp and everything was chaos.

Their enemies were taken completely by surprise, desperately running about in search of their weapons as Rosie bowled them down. The man on guard duty ran forward to join the fight, and the cage was left unguarded. Violet and Prisha snuck up to it on one side, Marlon already at work on the bars on the other side. The poor little boy looked terrified, curled in a corner with eyes wide. Prisha lifted Violet up to the side of the cage. She slipped between the bars, coming up to the boy to comfort him.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’re here to help. I know Marlon over there looks scary, but he’s actually super nice. I can hold your hand if you want and stay with you till we get you out, OK?”

The boy didn’t say anything, but he nodded, sniffling before taking the hand that was offered him.

Prisha studied the lock, trying to figure out the structure of what she was looking at.

“Shit,” Marlon panted. “These bars are harder to bend than I expected,”

“Language, Marlon. We are in the presence of a child,”

Marlon winced. “Sorry,”

“The fight’s going well,” Violet noted from her place inside the cage. She smiled at the boy. “Look over there. Those are all my friends kicking the bad guys’ asses. They’ll never hurt you again,” 

Her brow furrowed as she examined the battlefield again. “Wait, those two are new,”

“Minnie! Sophie!” the boy sprang forward, clinging to the bars of the cage. “Those are my sisters!”

“So you are a male harpy after all. Fascinating” Prisha jiggled the lock then sighed when it didn’t pop open.

They watched the fight play out from afar. The two harpies were fierce, flying up then soaring down to slash at the slavers with their talons. Louis, Clem and A.J. were weaving in between the legs of their taller foes, stabbing their legs then scurrying off toward the next target. Ruby and Aasim were working well together, a formidable force as they hit both high and low. It didn’t look like they’d need to be worried about a reprisal attack after all.

“Got it!” Prisha crowed as the lock finally clicked open. She stepped aside to let Marlon take Violet and the boy into his arms, putting one on each shoulder as they ran toward the woods. Marlon let out a loud whistle and Rosie bounded over, the others following close behind her. They ran until they were deep inside of the woods, too far for any of their injured enemies to follow. Once they were sure they were safe, they all stopped to catch their breath and speak to the two harpies who’d followed them in their escape.

“Tenn!” the girls cried, kneeling down to hug the boy as he ran over to them. As they continued their group hug, one of the girls looked up at the group. “Thank you so much for saving my brother. I don’t know how we can repay you,”

“Stopping scum like that is reward enough,” Clementine responded. “I’m Clementine. This is A.J. And the rest…” It took a few minutes to introduce everyone. Once they all were done with pleasantries, Aasim took the opportunity to speak.

“There are no harpy aviaries in these parts. If I might ask, what are you doing out here on your own and how is it even possible for you to have a male sibling?”

“We left our nest years ago,” Sophie responded. “After…”

“After they tried to kill Tenn,” Minnie finished for her, eyes dark. “Harpies aren’t all female. It’s cultural practice to kill all male babies. When our parents weren’t willing to do that…”

“They were killed instead,” Sophie responded, her eyes sad. “We’ve been on the run ever since,”

“That’s awful!” Louis exclaimed, his eyes tearing up. “You know what? You guys should join us!”

The harpies’ eyes were large as all three stared at him in shock.

“What, is that a bad idea?” Louis asked. “We’ve got all sorts of people in our group. Dwarf, elf, orc, goblin, halfling, everyone’s welcome. So you guys are too if you want,”

The group looked amongst themselves, nodding in approval.

“You guys would do that for us?” Sophie questioned. “We’re total strangers,”

Violet shrugged. “Pretty much everyone in this group started out as total strangers. It’s how it goes. It’s worked for us so far,”

The harpy siblings were unsure how to respond. They asked for time to think, which the group easily gave. They told the harpies they were free to stay the night with them, then began setting up camp.

Things certainly hadn’t gone as expected today, but for them that certainly wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it seemed that something really good had come about from their actions after all.


End file.
